


Wake

by tryptophan



Series: Aftermath [1]
Category: Daredevil (Comics), Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Gen, Spoilers for Defenders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-24
Updated: 2017-08-24
Packaged: 2018-12-19 11:16:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11896611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tryptophan/pseuds/tryptophan
Summary: In which the people in Matt's orbit react to the events at the end of the Defenders.





	Wake

**Author's Note:**

> ***SPOILERS***
> 
> WILL SPOIL THE END OF THE DEFENDERS
> 
> HIC SUNT DRACONES. 
> 
> TURN BACK NOW LEST YOU BE SPOILED.
> 
> Edited: 
> 
> I'm floored by the response this little vignette has gotten in a day. Thanks for reading and responding. I think the series will be four parts, so subscribe to that if you want to be notified when 3 and 4 go live.

It spread across the city, slowly and quietly at first, then growing until it shook the residents as badly as the last earthquake had. The tremors hit people where they lived; in their homes, in their hearts. It didn't destroy the masonry, but it still shook the foundations. "The Devil is dead," they whispered. 

Many grieved. A few despaired. A small few celebrated. It was never mentioned, not explicitly, but everyone knew that the Devil had perished when Midland Circle came down. A few cards and a crocheted Daredevil doll started the memorial. They were soon joined by a sea of candles. A small field of stones turned into cairns, which were built up by the city's Jewish population paying homage. Fields of flowers brought symbols of life to the grave. 

Children wore hats and headbands with horns. The Empire State building was lit up red. The city officials denied it was for Daredevil, but everyone knew better. 

The atmosphere in pubs and taverns was somber. Glasses were left for absent companions. Men and women spoke in hushed tones of their encounters with the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, of how they swore they saw ninjas but no one would believe them. 

A stone's throw from the epicenter, Fr. Lantom went about his business. Death was a part of the priesthood; he'd lost count of the people he'd buried. He powered through the grief, knowing that he'd have to tend to the needs of his flock that was feeling the aftershocks. In his few private moments, he grieved deeply for Matthew. He added him to his list of prayer intentions, and said a mass for "the the unknown departed," knowing he'd get flak if he dedicated it to Daredevil. Matthew Murdock was officially declared missing, but he wasn't legally dead, so he couldn't have a mass said for him. Two days after it happened, he walked to the memorial, stopping at Starbucks on the way. He left a latte beside a framed picture of someone who'd been saved by Daredevil. 

Jessica walked down from her office, undid her scarf, and wrapped it around one of the teddy bears someone'd left. Then she went back to her office and tried to drown herself in a bottle, but whatever the fuck IGH put in her made it impossible to stay too drunk for too long. 

Luke added a candle to the memorial and then fell into Claire's arms. 

Claire let Luke fall into her arms, but her thoughts were a few years in the past. She replayed the last time she'd been in Matt's apartment, thinking of how she told him that martyrs and saviors end up bloody and alone. 

Danny took Matt's final words to heart. "Protect my city." That he could do. He was still finding his way in the world, in New York, in adulthood, but he knew how to fight. He understood, moreso than the others, how important Matt's civilian identity was to him, and he knew that people would start to talk if the blind lawyer and the vigilante went missing at the same time after being purportedly kidnapped out of the station by Jessica and Luke. He staked out for a week, trying to hear, feel, smell the city the way Matt did. After that, he started to protect Matt's city. His costume wasn't the same, but he was fulfilling the same role, and word got around that the Devil had just changed his shape.

Karen told Matt she wasn't religious, and she wasn't. But he was, and she loved that about him. His faith sustained him and made him into the man he was. So, she kept her vigil in Matt's church. She lit a candle for his soul and prayed he'd find peace.

Foggy cried. Marci didn't know about Daredevil, so he had to keep the worst of his grief hidden from her. He let her think the rest of it was his concern for Matt being missing. He printed out Matt's favorite Thurgood Marshall quote and tied it to the chain-link fence that had been erected to keep the masses out of the rubble. 

And in the dark of night, when the city that never sleeps maybe just rested its eyes, an unassuming man dressed in black sporting three concealed weapons walked up to the memorial. He stood before the candles, looking at soft flickering of the wicks. He fished in his pocket for the item he'd brought. He wasn't big on funerals or graves, but this felt appropriate. It wasn't a Challenge Coin, but it would do. He'd had to search around in the city to find one, but his efforts payed off. He placed the St. Michael medal between a candle with a cartoon of Daredevil and one bearing the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. "It was an honor to fight beside you, Red."

**Author's Note:**

> [Challenge coins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenge_coin) are issued for a variety of reasons, but have a strong history in the military. Soldiers might leave a Challenge coin at the grave of a buddy with whom they earned it. 
> 
> St. Michael is the archangel Michael, who, according to legend, cast Lucifer from Heaven. He is the patron saint of soldiers.


End file.
